


The world where you exist

by yourcupofnoodles



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-09 07:15:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3241034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourcupofnoodles/pseuds/yourcupofnoodles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Growing up, Makoto was led to believe that another soul was waiting at the end of his string. His present parents narrated the old tale so much that he grew to memorize each word: no matter how entangled or stretched, that regardless of time, place, and circumstance, the red string of fate will never break.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The world where you exist

Growing up, Makoto was led to believe that another soul was waiting at the end of his string. His present parents narrated the old tale so much that he grew to memorize each word: no matter how entangled or stretched, that regardless of time, place, and circumstance, the red string of fate will never break. It is only lately that Makoto has come to look at every passing hand, all his relationships weighing in, and wondering if the sudden weight of it all was the world's way of telling him that he was lucky this time: that this lifetime would be the one where they both exist. 

* * *

Makoto remembers his first life vividly. He was a middle-class office worker's son, doomed to the same routine when he grows up. This life was a breeze: worked after graduation, married a co-worker, had twins, and died of old age. His wife was a plain woman who had fleeting smiles and an even quieter disposition. Their marriage was not a passionate one but they loved each other, platonically at best, and knew from the start that their marriage was a convenient one. They knew their person was not born in this particular time - had known from their weightless fingers and the lack of hurried heartbeats. 

Makoto's subsequent lives were lived in contrast to his first one. When he was reborn, he knew he didn't want a stale relationship. He decided to only be with his person. Trusting fate was difficult when it had failed him multiple times already. 

* * *

His seventh life, he only met his younger brother and together they tried to make a home for themselves. 

If it weren't for the storm that delayed the flights, Makoto would've concluded that this life was the worst. He had a number of friends but it was lonely having no one to forge a deeper connection with. 

Ren sported the same messy hair throughout his lifetimes. Even the way he whined was similar. The moment Makoto heard this, his ears perked up and looked around. And there he was, whining at the benches, close to tears. Makoto tentatively came over, gauging if Ren remembered here, before sheepishly raising his arms as am hello. 

Ren was quiet for a while before realization came over. 

It was the first time Makoto was thankful for delays, wishing for the life of him that the planes would never come. 

* * * 

Then there was the five year-old Haru-chan, an almost permanent grimace on his face, taking his hand. It was his 29th life, and the first time that he took notice of the sudden heavy weight in his pinky finger. 

"Are you okay, Makoto?" Haru asks, looking at his friend while tugging at the back of his shirt. 

"Yeah." Makoto swallows, his tears brimming, thinking of how this life, before it even begins to start, was the best already.


End file.
